Late shah of Iran's son urges Italy not to extradite dissident

The son of Iran's late shah has called on prime minister Matteo Renzi to prevent the extradition of an Iranian dissident arrested at the weekend while vacationing in Italy.

Mehdi Khosravi, 37, was detained in a hotel near Lake Como in northern Italy on Saturday on an international arrest warrant issued by Iran's authorities for alleged corruption. He was said to have been briefly hospitalised after being taken ill upon his arrest and is now in an Italian prison.

A judge has yet to make a decision on whether there are grounds to keep him in jail.

"Any attempt to force Mr Khosravi's return to Iran will lead to his incarceration, torture and possible conviction and execution as a political and human rights opponent of the regime," wrote Reza Pahlavi in a letter published on social media.